Delta Echo
by Jessy-Fran
Summary: The Arendelle is one of the biggest star ships of its class, and Elsa Telvi her proud captain. But there is trouble in the skies and Elsa is unwittingly caught in the middle of it. Can she save what's left of her crew and ship? Or will she succumb to her dark Nightmares and allow the galaxies to fall to dust? [PitchXElsa] [Will later become mature for themes.]
1. Alpha

The merchant ship Arendelle was one of the largest of its class. Owned and ran by the Telvi family for generations, the ship had served its captains and crew faithfully. It was not a luxurious vessel, that was to be sure, and its age was starting to show after one too many repairs, but she flew like a dream and rarely faltered. Few people in the solar system sector would deny that she was a fine ship, and one with a tragic recent history.

During a routine voyage the ship made an inexplicable diversion, closer to the sun and into some disastrous solar storms. The entire crew perished from radiation before a specialist rescue ship could reach them, leaving a ghost ship to be towed back to Earth to be decontaminated. Left in the hands of the eldest daughter, Elsa Telvi, it was only when she turned twenty-one that she could be officially named captain of the good star ship Arendelle.

* * *

"Captain, it would appear that C-Deck 5 is having an issue with the intercom systems. Shall I go down and see what the matter is?"

The captain turned from the screens she had been inspecting and nodded to her second in command.

"Good idea Commander Frost. I imagine one of the breakers has flipped again. If you get a chance ask North to do something about it as soon as possible. As Chief Engineer he needs to be kept informed."

Commander Frost saluted with respect before letting his guard down and grinning.

"Righto, Captain!" He laughed, and off he jogged to C-Deck 5.

Captain Telvi smiled before pushing her fringe out of her face and focusing again on the screens. Her intel had informed her that there may be pirates in this space quadrant and she wasn't taking any chances. Since the day she turned twenty-one, Elsa Telvi had been appointed captain of her late father's merchant ship and it wasn't a title she took lightly. Elsa had grown up riding solar waves and asteroid belts so she knew the job perfectly, but the crew had been nervous of serving under such a young captain. After all, twenty-five was barely a child for some of the species on board! But she had proven her skill over the past few years and the entire crew had readily accepted her.

Suddenly a ringing filled the communications ear piece Elsa wore.

"Yes?"

"_Earth bound call, captain._"

"I'll take it."

There was the familiar connecting hum as the network managed to link Elsa's ship to an interstellar phone booth on Earth.

"Hi Elsa!"

"Hello Anna, how are you today?"

"Not bad, just busy sorting out the paperwork for the wedding. You are free on the twelfth next month for dress fittings?" Anna asked for what seemed like the fourth time that week.

"Yes Anna, we're scheduled to be docking a couple of days beforehand, just in case there are any issues that make us late."

"Good! Oh Elsa, I'm so excited! It's only a couple of months away now and I think Kristoff is just as enthusiastic, he just doesn't show it like me."

"He ought to be, he's marrying the best person this side of Pluto!" Elsa laughed. Anna seemed so young but at twenty-one she supposed it wasn't unreasonable for her to be falling in love and getting married. As an older sister, she was just glad it happened before she met some good-for-nothing scoundrel.

"_Captain, there's a distress signal coming from C-Deck 5 and 6._"

Elsa was suddenly alert. It was very unusual to have two areas send out short range distress signals.

"Anna, something's happened on ship. I'll try to call you later okay?"

"Is everything okay, Elsa?"

"It should be nothing, just pipe trouble I imagine." She lied, hoping to ease Annas worry. "I love you Anna, speak soon."

"Love you Elsa, be safe and I'll speak to y-"

The connection cut off. Elsa tried to re-establish the link but it seemed that the entire external communications system was offline. Elsa looked around the main deck. He entire crew seemed at a loss.

"Captain, I'm not able to contact anyone externally."

"What about inside the ship?" Elsa was screaming inside her head but trying desperately to remain cool and focused.

"We still have control over most of the internal communications, but only the speakers. We can't contact individual headsets."

"Damn it." That meant that they couldn't send out anything but ship-wide messages. Anything spoken over the intercom system would be heard all over the ship. If this was a hostile invasion, and Elsa was starting to severely doubt it could be anything but, any plans would be relayed straight to the raiders ears.

"Send out coded message Sierra Tango fifty one. And is someone working on getting the external communication back?"

"Yes captain!" They set about issuing her commands.

"Good the last thing we need is-"

There was suddenly the booming sound of static over the intercom speakers and every crew member, including Elsa herself, had to throw their hands over their ears. When the noise didn't stop immediately, Elsa noticed through hazy eyes that people were actually passing out. Just as she too felt her mind trying to black out from the noise, it stopped.

On the main screen, a face appeared. His skin was pale grey and his eyes a startling shade of yellow set in a gaunt face, all clear indicators to Elsa that this man was a species known as Nightmare. Nightmares were an artificial species, created in laboratories as a form of AI experimentation. But they had gained a level of intelligence which far surpassed humans and they escaped into the stars, building their own colonies on distant moons. Nightmares rarely initiated contact with other species and if they did so, it never ended well.

"Do accept my humble apologises for such a rude entrance. I would have much rather have not an auditory pacifier but your crew members on the lower deck were being rather uncooperative." The camera panned to where Commander Jack sat hunched against the wall, bloodied and beaten. Elsas heart leapt into her throat and it was very difficult to stay calm seeing her best friend in such a state.

"I am the captain of this ship, who is it that I am speaking to?"

"Ah, Captain Telvi. I was wondering if I was going to have the pleasure of speaking to you in person. But then again, if your second in command is down here, lying on the floor like a dog, I suppose you'd have no choice." The disgust in the man's voice was dripping from his words.

"I ask again, who am I speaking to?"

"I wonder," the pale creature continued "if you were aware of us at all. We've been hiding in your ship for days now, waiting for the right moment." Elsa looked around. The few of her crew that weren't either unconscious or moaning from splitting head pains, stared at each other in horror. Not a single one of them had noticed anything wrong with the ship and it was only yesterday that Elsa had been joking with one of her officers that they were actually ahead of schedule for once.

Stoney faced, Elsa gripped the console and looked at her hands. She was at a loss. There had been no indication that there was anyone other than the regular crew, so how was she to have known? Nightmares were not common in this part of the quadrant. Pirates yes, pirates were everywhere and Elsa and her crew were not strangers to a pirate attack, but this was different. Nightmares didn't care for the cargo they carried across the night sky. They were far more interested in the people on board. Elsa asked again, steadily losing her patience.

"Who am I talking with?"

But again, the one she presumed was their leader took no notice of her demands.

"Honestly, I'm rather surprised at how easy all of this was. But maybe I shouldn't have expected too much from a child."

Elsa's face flared red from a mixture of rage and embarrassment. The crew were relying on her; she had to take control of the situation. This creature would regret attacking her ship, no matter what he thought of her age.

"Nightmare," she screamed "you will answer me! What is your name?"

The pale face looked mockingly disappointed.

"You humans, always ruining the fun. Fine, if you're so desperate to know..." The look of smug glee grew on the man's face as he spoke tauntingly. "My name is Pitchiner Black, the Lord High General of this galaxy, The Nightmare King and unfortunately for you Madame Telvi, the new captain of this ship."

Before Elsa could fully understand what was happening, the same screeching static noise filled the air, this time even louder than before. As the rest of Arendelles crew collapsed to the ground, Elsa watched as Nightmares flooded onto the main deck. Soon the noise was too much for her and her own mind started to black out, but before to darkness closed in completely she saw the so-called 'Nightmare King' enter the room and approach her with a malicious grin.

* * *

When Elsa woke some time later, she found herself strapped to her chair on the main deck. Looking around wildly, she was horrified to find that there wasn't a single soul in the room. Her first thoughts ran to her crew. Where were they? Besides the pacifier had they been harmed in any way? Jack had obviously been physically attacked if the blood on his uniform served as any indication, and that mam (Pitchiner Black, her mind supplied) had said that the crew of the lower decks had be uncooperative. Did that mean they had been hurt too? Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, she heard the gentle glide of the automatic door, warning her that someone had entered the room. She forced herself into as upright a position as possible, trying to be intimidating while ignoring that fact that she was a prisoner on my own ship.

"I see you've woken up. Pity, I was so enjoying your panic induced dreams."

"What?"

The man (creature, Elsa forced herself to remember. He might look humanoid but there was no humanity in him) smirked widely, barely keeping himself from breaking into a grin.

"You know of the origins of my kind, I'm sure. The persecution we took from you humans, the experiments, the torture and the pain? And I'm sure you're well aware that we vastly surpassed you in intelligence. That was why you mongrels could contain us for long." Pitchiner stopped in his talk to mused silently. He looked at Elsa with something between despise and intrigue in his eyes. The young woman wasn't sure what this mean for her but she was keen to keep Pitchiner talking for as long as possible so that she could work out an escape.

"We suffered for many years, but out of that pain came a great gift. As our mental capacity grew, so did a number of other abilities. The range varies between individuals, but for the most part Nightmares, the hated race, have telepathic capabilities."

Elsa was shocked. She had never heard of such a thing being a genetic trait across an entire species. Some people could possibly learn to harness such powers but to be born with it was unheard of.

"And so, you see, I was vastly enjoying reading your dreams. Dreams are a wonderful part of the unconscious mind, something we only release when we have no control over our thoughts. And yours, Miss Telvi, were delicious. So full of fear…"

Elsa had heard enough. This was her ship and she was not going to allow some _experiment _take it from her.

"Mr Black, you will release me this instant. If you do so I shall allow you and your crew to leave my ship without harm. If not, I shall be forced to take action."

"Oh, I see!" Pitchiner looked positively gleeful. "Are you waiting for your moment to strike, _captain_? How truly foolish of me! Where is your crew captain? Waiting for you to give the signal?" The man smirked "I should have expected less of a human, and such a young one at that." His words were cold but the tone he took was playful and mocking. Elsa felt hatred rise up inside of her as the man turned from her, laughing.

"You have no right to be here! This is _my_ ship!"

Suddenly he whipped around, all humour gone from his face. The Nightmare King was inches from Elsas face and she could see her own terrified eyes reflected in his yellow ones.

"Listen carefully, Miss Telvi. This is my ship now, understand. Most of your crew has been consumed by my men, only the strongest have been kept reasonably safe." The young woman felt her heart break but before she could mourn, Pitchiner continued. "You are only alive because we need your voice to pass through guarded patrols and inspection points without too much hassle."

Elsas skin was crawling as the Nightmare came closer and closer to her. He hand reached up behind her head and wrapped his long fingers into her hair, pulling down harshly so her neck was exposed. Despite telling herself that she was better than giving in to his threats, she cried out at the pain but quickly quietened when her captor pressed his face up into the crook of her neck and took a deep breath. A dark chuckle bubbled up from his throat and it was all she could do to stop herself from vomiting.

As Elsa craned her neck to gain as much distance from the Nightmare as possible, she could feel something creeping in at the edge of her thoughts. It was a constricting feeling, like her brain was collapsing in on itself. She started to panic. The tight, crushing sensation only got worse the longer she pushed against the tightening boundaries. She felt Pitchiners laugh against her neck and she suddenly realised that this was his doing. Unable to move in both body and mind, Elsa was having trouble breathing unlike the Nightmare who she could feel drinking in her waves of panic.

And then suddenly it was over. There was no pain or constriction, just her own thoughts whirling about her head. The man (_not a man_) against her throat was close to ecstasy, but he composed himself enough to whisper coldly in her ear:

"Be aware that if you become a burden, Miss Telvi, I shall eat your mind and then you'll beg me to kill you. That was nothing."

* * *

**A/N: **Sooooo… This happened when I needed a reality break. I adore scifi stuff and I want this one to be sexy and just a little uncomfortable, that's why I'll be rating it M soon enough. Lot of allusions and dark shit to come so if you enjoyed this, please leave me a review! Thank you for reading.


	2. Bravo

It had been three days since the Arendelles hijacking and Elsa had yet to see any of her surviving crew members. It had also been three days since she had last seen Pitchiner Black. After their first meeting a group of Nightmares had taken her away from the main deck and thrown her into a holding cell. Elsa imagined that her remaining crew were being kept in the other cells on this level but due to the way they were built there was no way for her to communicate with them or even be sure they were nearby.

Elsa was waiting for her evening meal to be brought to her. The Nightmares had at first forgotten to give her anything to eat but after reminding them that humans needed food to survive, they had agreed to two meals a day. They assured her that her crew would be receiving the same, though Elsa wasn't certain she could trust them. Ultimately they were hostile creatures and the young woman wasn't prepared to rely on their words any more than necessary.

Elsa absentmindedly pulled at a loose thread on the blanket she held tightly around her as she worried about her situation. There was little to no hope of an outside ship recognising they had been hijacked and Elsa knew they weren't expected to return back to Earth for nearly a whole month. As of right then, no one was missing them. They were in this alone.

There were shouts from outside of her cell. Elsa ran to door and pressed an ear against the cool metal. She could hear slices of conversation and the slamming of doors. The talking was getting louder and Elsa closed her eye to try to work out what they were saying.

"Sir, there has been talk in the group about you keeping the girl for yourself. Besides, the others are restless and angry, they want to make a move on the Emperors fleet soon." That was the voice of some Nightmare scum. Elsa's blood boiled at the thought of such disgusting creatures talking about her. And what was this about the Emperors fleet? The young captains' mind swam with thoughts.

There was the tell-tale thud of a body being slammed up against her cells door and Elsa fell to the floor from surprise. She scrambled back into position to listen to the reply being hissed, anger being barely concealed.

"Are you trying to push me to rip your throat out? Don't you dare tell me about the crew, I know what all of you are thinking without even trying. We move when the time is right, no sooner." Elsa knew this voice. The Nightmare talking was Pitchiner Black, the so-called Nightmare King. She couldn't forget his voice since that awful time three days ago when he was inside her head. Besides, Elsa had been dreaming about chasing him with a launcher rifle. "And tell the crew that of course I'm keeping her fear for myself. I can control my feeding and the fear that child holds inside her will give me a daily banquet for years if I'm careful." There was a choking noise. "I. Don't. Share."

Elsa heard footsteps leaving down the corridor. Slumping against the door, she let the thoughts whirl around inside her without trying to pin down anything in particular. What were they doing talking about the Imperial fleet? Elsa could only imagine they were looking to hijack those ships as well as her precious Arendelle, but there seemed to be no point. The Imperial fleet no longer carried the riches of the Empire and the Emperor never travelled by ship without heavy guard. But Elsa found herself caring less about the potential for galactic tyranny and more about the worrying closing comments. Why, apart being able to slip past the check points unnoticed would they be 'keeping her'? This thing about eating her fear, how was that possible? The whole conversation was very worrying.

Without warning, the door she was leaning on opened and she tumbled backwards into the corridor. Dazed for a moment, she didn't realise whose legs she was leaning on.

"Nosey little girls shouldn't get dinner, but since your begging at my feet I'll make an exception this time."

"I must say, I prefer you crawling at my feet than glaring from a chair. You should change back to that, it's far more pleasant." Pitchiner paused to look at Elsa for a beat too long before going back to his food with a smirk, "I think it suits you well."

Elsa refused to give a reaction to the comment and continued eating. A table had been set out in her Captains quarters where evidently the Nightmare King had decided to make himself home. She had been made to change into formal attire. Her captains' jacket pulled uncomfortably at her shoulders and neck as she ate the grand meal. She had no idea why they'd made her change clothes or why the ships supplies were being wasted like this.

'_Though there isn't a full crew to feed now,'_ a snide voice provided. Elsa pushed that dark thought to the back of her mind. _'It's just another scare tactic… probably.'_ She had to tell herself to keep calm. '_Nightmares feed on fear, breath deep and just focus on eating._'

The Nightmare King watched her carefully and Elsa realised that he was barely touching the food. She couldn't deny that she was curious about the strange creature sat in front of her and evidently she wasn't doing a good job of hiding it.

"Miss Telvi, I believe you might have some questions for me?"

"No Mr Black, I do not."

"I think you forget I am a skilled practitioner of telepathy." He chuckled darkly, "And while you really ought to call me Captain Black, I'll settle for Pitch."

"We are not friends, Mr Black, and you are no my Captain. I'll do no such thing." As she said it she felt the same crushing sensation inside her head as the first time she had defied the Nightmare. Elsa started to choke on the food she had only half swallowed as she panicked. Just as she thought she might cry from the fear, it disappeared, leaving only a dull ache. Pitchiner, or 'Pitch' as he wished her to call him, was sat leaning back in his chair with his eerie yellow eyes narrow at her.

"I am being pleasant, Miss Telvi. Do not push me again." And just as quickly as a star flicker, he was back to being amiable and welcoming. "I believe you have some questions for me."

Elsa was barely recovered from the combined mind crush and choking fit but she didn't want a repeat session any time. Knowing that Pitch could read her mind, she knew it was useless fighting on such a small issue.

"How come you're eating?"

She could tell by the slight surprise in his face that while he could read her mind, he hadn't expected that out of all the queries in her head, that to be her first question. Elsa took it as a small victory and sat a little straighter in her chair. Pitch covered the surprise well and his face melted into a comfortable smirk, one that Elsa was beginning to be oddly expectant of.

"My species doesn't have to consume conventional food to survive. However, I choose to on occasion. Just because I don't gain anything important from it, doesn't mean I can't _enjoy it_." Something passed over his face as he said that and despite her attempts at projecting a sense of confidence and calm, Elsa looked at her plate and nodded.

"In that case, why are you here on my ship?"

"Ah, now that is slightly more interesting." He settled back in his seat again and laced his finger in his lap. There was a constant aura of cold that came from the man, though Elsa couldn't be sure if it was something she imagined or a real coolness he created. "Myself and my crew were in need of a ship and, being the entrepreneurial species we are, we set about making that happen. However, it wasn't just a case of 'wrong place wrong time'. I was well aware of you and the tragic history of this ship." Elsa physically jolted at the allusion to her parents and their deaths. "I wanted to see the famous, young Captain Telvi and taste her delicious sadness. Fear permeates the very walls of this vessel and as soon as saw it I knew it was the one I would take, I was just lucky enough to find a beautiful captain with so much terror in her heart that it could feed me for years if farmed well."

Elsa shook the shroud of sadness over her parents from her mind, and fire flared inside her veins.

"What the hell does that mean?!"

Pitch barked a sharp laugh. It was the first time Elsa had seen the Nightmare produce anything more than a chuckle and the sound set her hairs on end.

"It means child that I'm keeping you for as long as I can. I have existed for many years and I know potent fear when I taste it. I'm not letting you die any time soon, not while I can still set ice in your bones and horror in your nerves." He was suddenly by her chair, moving like a shadow through the room, and Elsa had no time to move. Just like the first time, the panic started mounting in her throat and she felt the walls of her own mind starting to crush into upon her. Pitch brought her face towards his as he stood over her and she was barely aware of how inhumanely deep his breathing was. His face got closer and closer but Elsa was past caring about the physical when her mind was so desperately close to pure terror. She saw the sun flare with her parent dying in hundreds of awful ways, burning and decompression and freezing in deep space. She saw them with horrific radiation burns, eventually committing suicide. And then, to add to her worse nightmares her sister Anna was with them, dying over and over again. Elsa felt like it had been years as she watched her entire family die in front of her eyes without any way to help them. And then it was cold. Very, very cold.

When Elsa woke she was on the floor. Her head felt like it was splitting and everything was cold. In fact it was more than cold. There was a thin skin of ice under where she was lying and her hands felt like they'd been held in ice water.

"Interesting."

Suddenly Elsa remembered Pitch and scrabbled to get up off the floor. Despite the pain behind her eyes she straightened her uniform and took a step or two away from the Nightmare King. He just watched her with a look that combined fascination with something darker. Elsa didn't like to dwell on it.

"I would like to return to my cell now."

"You will stay here from now on, Miss Telvi." Pitch was– well, Elsa would have said 'glowing' but it was the exact opposite. It was as though he were absorbing the shadows and sending them out all at the same time. He seemed as though he was suddenly in perfect health and the gauntness that Elsa had previously seen in his face was now just bone structure and taut skin. His eyes glowed brighter than ever in the shadows that seemed to bow to him. No, Elsa would not be staying anywhere close to this creature.

"No thank you, I would lik-" she tried to demand to be taken back to the relative safety of her cell but was cut off sharply.

"Must we go through this again?" Pitch spoke softly but there was threat behind every syllable. "We both know I will get my way and besides, it is you room after all." There was that smirk again and if Elsa hadn't been so scared of the Nightmare King at that point, she almost certainly would have swung for him.

He told her to go to bed. As he left the room he spoke offhandedly to her.

"Don't worry, I don't sleep."

By the time he had locked the door behind him and Elsa had moved to the dresser to change, the ice on the floor had disappeared.

A/N: I am so sorry about the long wait. I promise I haven't forgotten about my Frozen/ROTG fics, it's just that I started my Masters in creative writing in September and I've been pretty blitzed with work. Either way, I'm getting this don't slowly but surely! Please review, it's very helpful getting comments and thoughts on plot development and things!


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